30 September 2012

I think kids dressed in Sunday best are the cutest. Amelia wanted special hair this morning for her Primary Program. She didn't even cry...the second time around. The first time I tried she threw a fit because I did a regular pony tail. Everett looked like a Mob Boss! His saggy blue slacks made me giggle inside. This is the first time he really wore a white shirt and tie since he is so much bigger than Phillip and warped out of several sizes. He is wearing clothes Phillip wore LAST year.

Amelia did a fantastic job on her part and sang words to ALL the songs in the program. She had her little sentence memorized! "The President of the church, his two counselors, and the quorum of the twelve apostles are all prophets." Her eyes light up while singing the songs. I love the yearly primary programs.

Saturday was a really difficult day for me. I had a photo session scheduled for 7:40 am. The family cancelled for the 4th time 15 minutes before. Grrrrr. Makes me so upset that I got up at 6 something got ready and then shafted. Saturdays seems ever so precious now that Amelia is in school. Our only day to play as a family. Another family session was scheduled at 9:30 am. I promised to text them when I was on my way home from the first session. Since that never happened I never texted the second family. We started the second session an hour late. By the time I finished half the day was gone. Then we all went shopping to Walmart (not fun). I spent the next hour putting food and laundry away. Justin watched the kids for the rest of the evening while I helped with RS dinner and attended the broadcast. My foul mood spilled over into the evening but mellowed out after the awesome music, spoken word, and girl time. Dessert helped too! LOL. From now on I am charging double the session fees for Saturday sessions and a deposit for all sessions with cancellation penalties. My family time is too precious for silly fluff interrupting our weekends.

27 September 2012

Yesterday our little man Everett reached the ripe old age of 16 months. He is on the graduate program for nursery...the 3 year program. He is learning some mad skills lately. This month he learned:

How to eat cereal and milk with a spoon

Can stand up from a crouching position unassisted

Dances

Says: shoes, binky, milk, mommy, daddy, this, Miekka and several other new words

Throws tantrums (yikes, we often call him man diva)

Blows kisses

Gives the BEST hugs

Does a funny crawl, stink bug, scoot, walking combo now. He will engage all four methods within a 10 foot stretch of carpet or concrete.

Loves toys that rolls balls down a ramp

His newest and most annoying trick is throwing tantrums. He will literally throw himself to the floor, pound his fists and legs, and scream. The best time to see a tantrum is between 11 pm and 2 am. Yep! He throws tantrums while sleeping. Everett also complains (i.e. shrieks) loudly when Phillip gets too close. He never knows if Phillip is coming in peace or war. I may have to get out the spray bottle again. Every morning at 8:30 the boys and I are outside watching the marching band practice. Everett dances some pretty amazing moves. I can hear some of the teenagers laughing over the things Phillip yells as they practice.

Phillip holds a special place in our hearts. Yes, he is busy. Yes, he is curious. Yes, he is the master rearranger. In spite of his many feats his happy and jolly personality smooths over many mishaps. The other day I was trying to figure out why my feelings of love are so different towards him compared to Mia and Everett. I finally figured it out. Phillip makes me laugh. Laughing makes me feel forgiving. Phillip also has a very generous nature. Saturday I went shopping early in the morning. He came along with me to Walmart and earned a little drink treat. Everett saw the drink when Phillip came stumbling in. Everett followed Phillip down the hall shrieking and making a huge fuss. When Phillip figured out the commotion was due to his drink he turned around and gave it to Everett saying, "Here wittle buddy, you hab it." When he gets a snack he always gets enough for Mia and/or Everett. When asked to share he will without a fuss. Melts my mommy heart to see such a tender streak.

Phillip also started the imaginary play developmental stage. He is often found with his daddy, mommy, and baby monkies making conversation in different voices. "Hey wittle buddy I lub you" "I wub you to daddy" etc. The other day he was playing with the Fisher Price farm. The chicken was driving the tractor. Phillip had the farmer kick the chicken's bum off the tractor. He broke my special chicken from Portugal on Tuesday. The neck broke off the body, as it did Phillip yelped, "Oh no! My neck, my chick neck, awwwwww, and pretended to die." How can I not laugh?

Amelia is on the way to recovering. The doctor said it will take a year to get her bowels back to a normal state. She is getting daily doses of fiber and Miralax. I really hope she stays on track because if she relapses we might have a future with IBS or Krohns Disease. As of now she passed all the larger obstructions and is having daily bowel movement. Hooray!

Amelia read her first book to us on Thursday of last week. She recognizes many sight words now and is working on 3 letter words. Last week we sat across the street while she drew a picture of our neighborhood. She suddenly perked up and asked if I knew what a compound word was. She assigned a word to each fist (gold fish) pounded her fists together and shouted goldfish. We nerd snorted and traded silly compound words while working on her drawing.

Justin totally rocked my world this past weekend. He watched the kids for about 9 hours while I helped photography a wedding with Kelly. It was fun to shoot second with Kelly! I got to attend a Catholic wedding and experience the inside of a bar. I was silly enough to get up on the bar and shake my bum a bit. Hey! You gotta work it when on the job. Kelly has blackmail photos somewhere. Apparently I am true Sidney-ite after experience a wedding reception with half the town out at the fair grounds. Thanks to Justin and Kelly I finally earned enough money to get a Silhouette Cameo (a cutting machine).

This week so far felt super busy. I had two photo sessions on Tuesday. The latter session included a super grumpy 2 year old. With piano three times a week now, photo sessions for Christmas piling up, and three kids I feel a bit busy. Thus I am limiting my photo sessions to give myself some wiggle room. This morning I had a photoshoot with a set of twin girls born back in July at 32 weeks. It took me four hours just to get a couple photos. Both girls were quite titchy and easy to overstimulate. It was probably the most exhausting session to date. I had a fun experience with the mother. We talked a bit about religion and she told me Brigham Young is a distant relative. I felt the strongest sensation to befriend this young lady and share the gospel. I feel a great stewardship towards her now. Hooray for missionary work! Tonight Amelia is performing with her ballet class at a city function. She is ever so excited for her recital and upcoming participation in the Oktoberfest parade. This Sunday she has a short part in the Primary program. Amelia decided to invite Kelly, Darren, Camille, and Elsa to the program. I am so proud of her for inviting someone!

Saturday I am helping organize and set up for the RS Broadcast dinner and dessert function. Should be lots of fun! I am in charge of decorating the tables, helping serve, and set up.